"Wait—!"
Tsunade still wanted to say something, but Nagato hung up decisively.
After Nagato relinquished control, Jiraiya regained consciousness and freedom. Naturally, he was aware of all the conquest declarations Nagato had made to Tsunade earlier.
At this point, he understood. It was over.
Konoha was truly beyond saving…
Once Nagato and the new Akatsuki he represented began their attack on Konoha, with the village's current combat strength, they wouldn't stand a chance!
The destruction of Konoha Village and the death of everyone in battle were almost inevitable.
Jiraiya knew all too well that the current Nagato was no longer the shy, kind-hearted student he once taught.
"Bastard!"
"Utter bastard!"
"Jiraiya, is this the student you raised?"
"It's infuriating!"
Tsunade continued to roar, venting her rage wildly, wishing she could crush Nagato with one punch. Unfortunately, it was Jiraiya standing before her, not Nagato himself.
Jiraiya remained silent, only sighing sadly. Clearly, he hadn't shaken off the disappointment of yet another failure…
"Why are you so quiet? Can't you stop being this weak?! We still have time, and we're not guaranteed to lose!"
Tsunade slapped Jiraiya again, shouting harshly, trying to reignite his fighting spirit.
The battle hadn't even started, yet he was already so cowardly.
Couldn't he be a bit more stubborn?
"What other options do we have?" Jiraiya sighed softly, devoid of fighting spirit.
"The current Akatsuki, including Nagato, are all Edo Tensei, right?"
"Yes."
"Then as long as we find and defeat the caster who revived them, we might win in one fell swoop!"
Tsunade, with hope in her heart and high fighting spirit, encouraged him.
Hearing this, Jiraiya gave a faint bitter smile. The idea was beautiful, but sadly, it was mere wishful thinking.
Even if they found the caster, then what?
It was said Nagato was backed by a Sennin; even if found, could you defeat a Sennin and force them to undo the Edo Tensei?
If they truly had that kind of power, why fear Akatsuki?
"There's no chance. Nagato is now backed by a Sennin; that's exactly why Konoha has no hope of winning."
"Sennin? What Sennin?"
"I'm not entirely clear, but it should be the one who revived Nagato and the others."
"Have you seen them?"
"No…"
"Then how can you be sure?"
"Itachi told me…"
"Uchiha Itachi? The traitor who wiped out his clan? Can his words be trusted?"
"He's not a traitor. The Third Hokage sent him to infiltrate Akatsuki…"
"Hiss! That happened? Why didn't that old man tell us anything? Even so, he shouldn't have sacrificed the entire Uchiha Clan!"
"In short, he shouldn't be lying to me."
Jiraiya said confidently, trusting his judgment of people.
"But the latest information I got is that a masked man with a Sharingan is controlling Akatsuki behind the scenes, not a Sennin."
"A masked man? Who's that?"
"It's unclear, but could it be there's no Sennin at all, and this person is manipulating Uchiha Itachi to deceive you?"
"…"
"Couldn't that be possible?"
"It's possible, but…"
"No buts! That's the truth! If there really was a Sennin, wouldn't the old toad at Mount Myoboku know? Wouldn't the slugs at my place know?"
"This must be a trick they've set up. Jiraiya, you've been fooled!"
Tsunade, as if piecing together all the clues, declared with absolute certainty.
This even made Jiraiya doubt himself slightly. After all, he hadn't seen the Sennin firsthand.
Everything came from Nagato and Itachi's words, and both were Edo Tensei bodies, making it hard to rule out control by a mastermind.
"Could I really have been deceived?"
"Whether you were deceived or not, no matter who the enemy is, we won't surrender! What's your next plan?"
Tsunade took the initiative to ask.
Jiraiya perked up slightly and answered:
"I'm not sure. Maybe when they start attacking, I'll be controlled by Nagato again? So I need to use this chance to get as far from Konoha as possible, away from the battlefield."
"Later, even if I'm controlled, I can delay my return a bit. No matter what, I don't want to harm a single Konoha ninja…"
Tsunade pondered, then ordered:
"Then use this chance to find the enemy's mastermind; only by finding them do we have a chance to win. That person will show up, right?"
"Alright! I'm leaving now!"
Jiraiya didn't dare delay. Every minute he wasn't forcibly controlled by Nagato was precious.
He had to leave Konoha immediately.
Fortunately, Nagato hadn't controlled him to attack Tsunade directly, which could be seen as granting him a shred of dignity.
Jiraiya prepared to leave. At the door, he paused briefly.
Gathering all his courage, with the awareness and regret that came after death, he suddenly confessed:
"Tsunade, I've always loved you! So, don't die!"
"Jiraiya, you…"
Tsunade was stunned, not expecting this ghost to confess his love at such a moment—what an idiot!
It moved her, yet made her angry, a complex mix. But before she could respond, Jiraiya pushed the door open and left the room.
As Edo Jiraiya stepped out, he collided with another figure coming from the opposite direction.
"Naruto?"
"Jiraiya-sensei?!"
Big and small, old and young, they stared wide-eyed, frozen in place.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
At the same time, elsewhere.
Dozens of kilometers from Konoha Village, a large Akatsuki force had gathered.
Having declared they'd visit Konoha today, Nagato wouldn't break his word.
All of Amegakure, except for a few newly revived Jinchuriki under Nagato's command who stayed behind, was mobilized.
Over ten Kage-level fighters, more than a hundred elite Jonin-level Edo… all present.
This battle would surely destroy Konoha Village!
Seeing Nagato's consciousness return after controlling Jiraiya, Konan beside him guessed the outcome:
"Failed?"
"Mm, Konoha refused to surrender…"
"Jiraiya-sensei really couldn't do it."
"As expected. I didn't hope he'd succeed, just gave him a final bit of dignity as repayment for his past teachings."
Nagato replied calmly, clearly never optimistic about Jiraiya.
That Hokage woman named Tsunade—if she could be persuaded easily, Konoha wouldn't have nearly been wiped out last time.
Of course, this time, there'd be no such luck.
"But on the way, I discovered something interesting."
"What?"
"Konoha seems to know we've successfully revived the Juubi."
"What? How could they know?"
Konan and the others couldn't help but be shocked.
Reviving the Juubi was Akatsuki's greatest secret recently, known only to Nagato and a few top members.
How could Konoha have learned of it first?
"It's said someone told Naruto through a dream."
"A dream?"
"Sounds hard to believe, doesn't it?"
"But there are only two possibilities: either someone's watching Akatsuki with abilities beyond my perception, or there's a traitor among us, secretly leaking information to Konoha."
At those words, everyone's eyes turned to Edo Uchiha Itachi on the right.
Under the Free Rain jutsu's range, almost nothing could bypass Nagato's senses to spy on them.
That left only the possibility of a traitor. If asked who in Akatsuki was most likely to leak information to Konoha, it'd be the double-faced Itachi, known to all!